Kris Gopalakrishnan Launches itihaasa Research And Digital

S. ‘Kris’ Gopalakrishnan, a co-founder of Infosys Technologies, launched his new venture, itihasa Research and Digital, the only one of its kind doing research into contemporary topics related to the IT Industry, reported Business Wire India. Gopalakrishnan, who has been the chairman of venture capitalist firm Axilor Ventures, launched his new firm in the presence of S Ramodarai (former Vice-Chairman of TCS), Ashank Desai (founder and former chairman of Mastek Limited), Harish Mehta (Founder of Onward Technologies), and Professor Deepak Pathak (Professor of Computer Science, IIT Bombay).

“itihaasa history of Indian IT, our first project, was to relate the incredible story of Indian IT to many more people across the world. itihaasa unearthed hidden nuggets and insights that make for a most compelling digital museum. I thank each one of the 44 leaders who graciously agreed to be a part of this initiative. Without their unstinting cooperation, this story would never have been told,” said Kris Gopalakrishnan as he laid emphasis on the motivation behind the new idea for this venture.

He further added, “Based on the success of itihaasa: history of Indian IT research, I am establishing itihaasa Research and Digital, a Not for Profit Company, to research contemporary history of Indian IT and emerging IT trends in modern India. The objective of itihaasa’s research is to enhance our understanding of the evolution of Indian IT, its impact, and future trajectories. We will partner with top notch researchers and universities, research organizations, industry associations -in India and across the world - to achieve our objective. I believe that this research is important for India to further enhance her position as a world leader in IT.”

Since its launch, close to 8000 downloads have been made on iOS and Android phones. It offers 600 short videos, over 37 hours of footage, 350 archived photographs and articles. Users can avail of easy browsing with 12000 tags. Users can personalize stories on six dimensions-Time, People, Organization, Policy, Technical Terms and Place.

It enables to find answers to questions like - When was programming first taught in India? How did education in computer science evolve? How did India embark on a journey to manufacture computers and software? Who were the earliest IT entrepreneurs and more. It also facilitates one to discover the milestones of each decade and how it changed the Indian IT space forever.

This new venture is conceptualized by Kris Gopalakrishnan as a digital museum and a mobile app to track business history using research-based interviews and supported by Krishnan Narayanan and Dr. N. Dayasindhu. Kris continues to be itihaasa’s patron.

It is available for free download on iOS and Android phones or tablets

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